Crappy Gig Economy Job - Personal Shopper Instacart Employee Review

1.0
Jul 19, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

None. You spend time on their platform and don't get any shifts.

Cons

Was unable to talk to anyone. They send preset answers to your questions that don't answer your questions. They suggest areas that are an hour drive away. They say you can use your own cooler bags, but then disqualify them so that you have to buy theirs. The company has $1.8B from investors but expect you to buy bags.

Explore other reviews about Instacart

5.0
Mar 29, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great gig that can be done on flexible hours.

Cons

Gas prices having been go up.

2.0
Jun 21, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Fun going out and talking to people. You will interact with people everyday. You control how much you get paid. Lots of flexibility in the time between accepting an order and traveling to the store and beginning to shop. It isn't pedal to the metal to get to the store like DoorDash is. You can also cancel batches after accepting as long as you keep your rate under 15%. This is different from DoorDash where your rankings will suffer if g.t. 2% cancellation rate.

Cons

There's a learning curve and it takes a while to learn each chain of stores' items. Once you become proficient at one store, the algorithm will lowball your offers relative to other less-experienced Instacart shoppers. Overall, Instacart shoppers likely get paid similar or less than the store's regular employees.

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